LETTER XXVIT. 297 



a canal. On the taking-off side there was a stile, and 

 on the other side a cradle for foot people only to get 

 over. You could not jump the canal, as there was a 

 row of cottages just opposite. No time was to be lost, 

 as the hounds were over the water, and running hard 

 away from us. The horse I was riding had been bred 

 and trained by myself, and would follow me like a dog, 

 always being directed by the voice what to do. Imme- 

 diately dismounting, I got over the stile on to the 

 boards ; my horse followed, and we arrived safely on the 

 towing-path the other side. Not another would follow. 

 The rattling on boards terrified the other horses, and they 

 would not attempt it. Some then pushed their horses 

 into the water, and guided them over by the side of the 

 foot bridge ; others went oflT to another place. By this 

 manoeuvre I was alone with the hounds, deciding at 

 once what to do, and the rest of the field could never 

 make up the lost ground. 



In villages there are often narrow lanes with stiles at 

 each end, sometimes doorways. Through such places I 

 have led my horse, I was going to say hundreds of times ; 

 very many times I certainly have, and I am quite satisfied 

 I never could have been with my hounds had not my 

 horse been as good a follower through cramped places as 

 a perfect fencer across country. A drop leap into a 

 hard road is another place where you ought to dismount 

 at once, running your whip through the rein, and 

 giving your horse the chance of taking it as he likes. 

 You may be pulled down yourself, but this is far better 

 than foundering your horse or breaking his knees. Upon 

 meeting with a steep hill, at the end of a hard run, chmb- 

 ing it on foot relieves your horse and gives him second 



